The Story

We are All Antarctica is a story about my father George W. Gibbs, Jr’s adventures as the first person of African descent to set foot on the continent of Antarctica. He sailed on the famous ship the USS Bear in 1939 to 1941 on Admiral Byrd’s III expedition to the South Pole. It was the first joint venture with the US military and private exploration. Gibbs went on to serve humanity in countless ways, paving the way for not only people of color in the community of Rochester, MN but for all people to become more human, serve their community and appreciate differences.

Through compassion, tenacity, faith and countless hours in the trenches, Gibbs’ life is a model for community service, equality and fun. As the lowest rank on the ship, he was honored for his contribution at a time when people with dark skin were considered less than human.

This story integrates my experiences with natural healing, the arts, the science of the ice, the metaphysics of the South Pole and the history of the expedition and its mystery.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Simply Delighted

Today I spoke with several men who knew my father, George W. Gibbs Jr., at IBM in Rochester, MN. It's delightful to hear so many positive things, years after he interacted them. He had three successful careers, all related to serving people in some way. 24 years in the Navy, 18 years at IBM and 18 years as an entrepreneur, as founder of Technical Career Placement. I especially liked the comment about how contented soft spoken and confident he was at IBM, known at that time as a high powered, type A environment. I was told, "Always a twinkle in his eye!"

I'm preparing this week to visit the first graders in Christie Bauer's class at Gibbs Elementary. They've been following my blog closely. They had some interesting questions, when we met on Skype, before my trip to Antarctica.